It has, improbably, been called "uncommonly lucid, even riveting" by The
New York Times, and it was a finalist for the 2004 National Book Awards
nonfiction honor. It is a literally chilling read, especially in its
minute-by-minute description of the events of the morning of 9/11 inside
the Twin Towers. It is The 9/11 Commission Report, which was, before its
publication, perhaps one of the most anticipated government reports of
all time, and has been since an unlikely bestseller. The official
statement by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the
United States-which was instituted in late 2002 and chaired by former
New Jersey Governor Thomas Kean-it details what went wrong on that day
(such as intelligence failures), what went right (the heroic response of
emergency services and self-organizing civilians), and how to avert
similar future attacks. Highlighting evidence from the day, from airport
surveillance footage of the terrorists to phone calls from the doomed
flights, and offering details that have otherwise gone unheard, this is
an astonishing firsthand document of contemporary history. While
controversial in parts-it has been criticized for failing to include
testimony from key individuals, and it completely omits any mention of
the mysterious collapse of WTC 7-it is nevertheless an essential record
of one of the most transformational events of modern times.
